Device for forming fishing leaders



Oct. 2, 1951 l F. H. KOR-rz 2,569,768

DEVICE FOR FORMING FISHING LEADERS Filed Oct. 4. 1947 mllllllllllllll lllllllll//lllI/ll/lVIII/lll, lll

INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,569,768 4 DEVICE FOR FORMING FISHING LEADERS Frank H. Kortz, Long Beach, Calif. Application October 4, 1947, Serial No. 777,890

1 Claim.

. 1 My invention relates to the field of fishing equipment, and more particularly to a device adapted for forming loops on the ends of metallic fishing leaders.

In the art of angling the hook on which the bait is mounted can be supported from the line the sherman is using in several different ways. One of the most common methods of aflixing a hook to a line and also the most convenient is to thread the fishing line directly through the eye provided in the shank of the hook. However,

this manner of supporting a hook from a line has the disadvantage that the line when immersed in the water is opaque, and due to the acute vision of fish may serve to warn them from taking the bait. To overcome this difficulty a transparent gut leader-is sometimes used as an intermediate connection between the hook or lure and the line of the angler. Although this type of leader performs satisfactorily under certain conditions it is of little valuewhen the fish liable to be taken have teeth or a hard bony mouth structure such as muskellunge, barracuda, tuna, albacore and bonita which permit them to sever the gut leader.

To prevent fish in the above class from escaping after being hooked by biting through a gut leader, a leader is used which is preferably formed from a high grade steel or German silver.

It will be apparent that when a hook is ailixed to g a conventional linen line directly or to a gut leader little difficulty is experienced in forming a looptherein adapted for holding same, but that in the case of a metallic Wire leader thisI is a troublesome problem. In the past the average fisherman has resorted to purchasing prefabricated metallic leaders with the loops formed therein, as the equipment for forming such loops in a satisfactory manner is rather complicated, bulky and cumbersome, and designed for stationary use by a manufacturer who is interested in producing leaders in volume. Thus, while prefabricated leaders are available on the market many fishermen are unsatised with the product as they are restricted to metallic leaders of certain lengths and weights, rather than being able to use leaders which are adapted to their own particular mode of fishing.

It is therefore a major object of my invention to provide a device that will form a loop of the desired length on the free ends of a piece of metallic leader wire, that will be extremely simple in mechanical structure, can be manually operated, will be light in weight andrsmall in size, can be carried by a isherman on a trip, will be inexpensive to manufacture, and can be retailed in the low priced sporting goods merchandising field.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof, and from the drawing illustrating that form `in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of my device for forming a shing leader;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the device;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional View of the device with the Wire engaging lever in the closed position taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;V

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device with the wire engaging lever in the open position taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the loop formed in the leader wire by the use'of the device.

Referring now to Fig. 1 for the general arrangement of my invention, it will be seen that my device for forming a fishing leader includes an elongated base B that slidably supports al vertical wire engaging member M for the leader V wire W during the time that a loop L is being formed therein by the manual rotation of zontally positioned hook H.

The base B is preferably formed from an elongated rectangular strip of sheet metal I0 that is provided at each end with a circular opening II which is used in aixing the completed device to a suitable fiat structure by the use of a screw or bolt. Each longitudinal side of the strip I0 is bent inwardly to form a lip I2`that serves as a a horiguide for the Wire supporting member M. Formed on one end of the base B is a substantially vertical plate I3, preferably having a rectangular shape, that is provided on its forward face with a boss I3a which is formed with a tapped bore therein that engages the threaded portion of a shaft I4. Although the plate I3 and boss I3a can be formed as an integral unit, I have found it` desirable to fabricate this portion of the device by afxing a machine nut to the plate I3 to form the boss I 3a. The forward portion of the shaft I4 is provided with a forwardly extending L-shaped member I5 which serves as 'a crank for rotating the hook H which is formed on the rearward end of the shaft. It will bev noted in Fig. 1 that as the crank I5 is turned that the hook H is not only rotated but is moved either forwardly or rearwardly depending on the direction in which the crank is rotated.

In Figs. 2 and 3 it Will be seen that the wire supporting member M is fabricated With a rec- -trally disposed.- V-shaped notch i9.

tangular sheet metal base I6 that is slidably mounted on the upper surface of the base IIJ, and is held thereon by each of its longitudinal edges being within the confines of one of the lips I2. Formed on the forward edge of the base I is a substantially vertical rectangular plate il that is provided at each of its lower corners with an indentation I8 through which one of the lips I2 extends, and on its upper edge with a cen- Extending downwardly from the lower apex of the notch IS is a vertical slotY 2|) having .a width that will per- Y mit wire W of the largest cross-section which will be used in forming leaders tovpass therethrough. The lower end of the slot 2 6 terminates in a circular bore 2iv having a diameter slightly greater than twice the width of the slotV 2IJ- in order that the two lengths of wire W'necessary'to form a loop L can be inserted therein as best seen ini Fig. 3.

iFormed on one` sideiof the slot 2o on the rear- Y Y Y edges' I and 32' offth'ebore 2I- andslot 2li-respec-A w-ard upper portion of the-plate Il are two outwardly extending wire engaging arms 22 and respectively, with the arm 22 projecting upwardw ly and the arm` 23 downwardly. It will be noted that the portion of each of the arms 22 and closestto the plate I1 is tapered to place tension on wire W of various diameters that will pass therethrough while the upper portion of each of the arms is parallel to the plate Il. From ex- .l `perience I have. found that the arms 22 and 23 are: preferably formed by a stamping operation inzwhich the U-shaped arm portions are'bent into Y the necessary shape.

Situated on the rearward face of the plate Il onthe side opposite the wire engaging arms 22 and. 23 isa' pivotally mounted lever 2d that is formed on its outer end with a handle 25, and on the inner end with an enlarged portion 26. TheY leverportion 25 is formed with a lower semi-cirF i cular edge and' an outer slightly curved laterally extending edge 2l that isl substantially normal to the handle portion 25. Extending inwardly into the lever portion 26 is a transverse slot 28 adjacent the lower edge 2l' and forming therewith an arm 29 which is spacedV slightly from the plate Il to frictionally engage the wire W-I as it passes from. the wire engaging member 23 prior to entering the bore 2| as can best be seen in Fig. 2. The free end of wire W which for convenience is designated as strand W-I passes through the members 22 and 23, the bore 2|, and around the hook H whence it returns as a second strand W-2 through the'bore 2l in a position to be engaged by the slot 28 as the lever 2li in which the slot is formed is rotated clockwise. Thus, as the hook H is rotated by the use of the crank I5 the wire W-I is pulled forwardly against the tension offered by passing between the interior face of the arm 2:9 and the rearward surface of the plate Il', as well as that offered by the wire engaging members 22 and 23,. to be tightly wound into a shank portion 30 of the loop L. The second strand of wire W-Z is firmly held in a stationary position withinthe connes of the slot 2S and the bore 2l which are slightly offset from one another in order that a rm grip will be secured on the wire W-2 when the lever 24 is rotated to a wire engaging positionv The operation of my device is extremely simpleY and it can be operated in either a fixed or portable position. Should the former position be found desirable, the device is placed on a flat rigid structure, and attached thereto by extending screws or bolts through the openings II into the body of the structure. Y The shaft I4 is rotated with the crank I5 until it is moved horizontally into a position in which the plate I3 is located near the forward end of the threaded portion I4. Plate I'I is now moved horizontally until the distance between the end of the hook H and the forward face of the plate is the distance desired in the finished loop L. The wire W prior to a loop being formed therein is threaded into my device by extending the outer end portion` W-I through thewire engaging members 22 and 23, down through the slot Zilinto the bore 2I, and forwardly around the hook H; the second strand of VVwire W-2 is returned from the hook H by being moved down through the slot 20 into the bore 2I where itis engaged by the slot 28 as the lever handle 25 is'rotated downwardly. It. will benoted that while the bore 2l and the slot 28 are of substantially the same width they are slightly offset from one another Yin order that when the slot 28 is moved upwardly the wire W-Z: will be gripped between Ithe-outside tively, and. held in a stationary position therebetween until the lever handle 2 5 is moved upwardly.

' DuringV the time that the wire We2 is locked in on the opposite side by interior surface of, the` lever arm 29.

The crank I5 is now rotated'with one hand and the wire supporting member M held in a Vfirm position with the other hand, preferably by ap-V plying pressure with the thumb to the base lr6.

As rotation of the hook H occurs', theV strand of. wire W-I is drawn against the frictional resist-- ance of the wire engaging members V22pA and 23, as well as the friction offered bypassing between the plate I'IY and the arm 29, to be wound in a tight coil to form the shank portionV 30 of the loop L as best seen in Fig. 5. From experience'I have found that all of the wire W-I can be wound to form the shank portion 30, and that the winding will continue satisfactorily until the very end portion of the wire W-I has been used. It will be apparent that as the hook H is moved horizontally forward by each rotation of the handle I5 Ythat the pitch of the threaded shaft portion 33 must be greater than the cross sectional diameter of the largest wire. W that will be used in formingV leaders in order that a smooth shank portion 30 will be secured with the heaviest Wire.

Upon completing the formation of the loop L the lever 24 is returned to the open position as shown in Fig. l, and the leader removedvfrom the slot 20 of my device vready for use, or for having another loop L formed on the opposite end of the wire W in the. above described manner. From the standpoint of appearance and sales appeal I have found it desirable to plate the component parts of the device with cadmium, chromium or nickel. Y

While the devicerherein shown and described is fully capable of achieving the objects and proincludes; an elongated rectangular base providedv withjinwardly extending lipsralong each longitudinal side thereof; an upright support, provided with a substantially horizontal tapped bore, affixed to one end of said base; a base plate slidably mounted on said base within the confines of said lips; a substantially vertical member mounted on said base, and provided with a substantially vertical slot that terminates at the bottom thereof in a circular bore having a diameter slightly greater than twice the cross-sectional diameter of the largest leader wire that will be used with said device; a plurality of wire engaging arms provided on said member, with each of said arms having a tapered base portion whereby wire passing therethrough will be held under tension; a lever pivotally mounted on said member on the side opposite from said Wire engaging arms, with said lever being provided with a slot that is slightly offset from said slot provided in said member when said lever is in a wire engaging position, and the inner portion of said lever being extended outwardly from the surface of said member; a threaded shaft rotatably mounted in said bore and provided with a hook on its rearward end; and a handle adapted for rotating said shaft whereby said hook can engage the doubled free end portion of a piece of leader wire extending through said bore and rotate and advance said doubled wire portion to form a loop therein during the time that the free strand of wire is held in tension by said wire engaging arms and the outwardly extending portion of said lever, while the other strand of said Wire is held in a fixed position between the sidewalls of said slots provided in said member and said lever.

FRANK H. KORTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 11,201 Flatan Nov. 3, 1891 740,444 Lamb Oct. 6, 1903 769,023 Rossi Aug. L30, 1904 874,934 Broome Dec. 31, 1907 911,931 Ambruster Feb. 9, 1909 1,014,498 Lung Jan. 9, 1912 1,213,643 Hoett Jan. 23, 1917 1,238,445 Scholl Aug. 28, 1917 1,307,409 Matthews June 24, 1919 1,310,791 Cogozzo July 22, 1919 1,320,949 Wikowsky Nov. 4, 1919 1,646,550 Miller Oct. 25, 1927 1,752,726 Brannaka Apr. 1, 1930 2,236,503 Hedrich Apr. 1, 1941 2,242,341 Brignall May 20, 1941 2,253,983 Renier g Aug. 26, 1941 

